Big Ten Open Thread: Week of 1/6/13

Going to start posting open threads for the weekday action and then the weekend action.

OSU, MSU, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan all tied at the top with 2-0 starts. Iowa, Minnesota the only other teams to win a game thus far at 1-1.

Here are this week’s games. The big one will be Tuesday night in East Lansing as MSU and OSU face off. Who ya got?

Day Road Home Arena TV
Tue - 9pm Ohio State Michigan State Breslin Center ESPN
Wed - 7pm Minnesota Penn State Bryce Jordan Center BTN
Wed - 9pm Illinois Wisconsin Kohl Center BTN
Thu - 7pm Northwestern Iowa Carver-Hawkeye Arena ESPNU
Thu - 9pm Michigan Nebraska Pinnacle Bank Arena ESPN2

Spartans over Buckeyes.

Both playing well right now but I like how MSU matches up.
I don’t think OSU has the offense to keep up with Harris/Payne/Appling.

@JBlair52
Game in East Lansing, I agree that OSU doesn’t have the firepower to keep up.

I’d say Sparty as well. Nice to say that after the first week, we have the best road win so far. I think Wiscy over Iowa is probably the best overall win.

The McCaffery meltdown was fun to watch. He’s definitely my favorite non Beilein coach.

Iowa got jobbed tonight. So much home cooking on at the Kohl Center.

Iowa is in desperate need of a PG and better outside shooting. Their front court and wings are as deep and talented as any team in the conference.

Iowa is in desperate need of a PG and better outside shooting. Their front court and wings are as deep and talented as any team in the conference.
Posted this on Twitter last night but Iowa has a ton of depth and talent but they also don't have anyone that's played for a winner before. A majority of those guys have been around but they've never done better than .500 in the Big Ten or made the NCAA tournament.

I really think they need a big win to kind of propel them to contender status because MSU, OSU, Wisconsin, even Michigan have guys that have played in and won big games in this league.

3-POINT FG PCT G 3FGM 3FGA Pct

  1. WISCONSIN 15 126 318 .396
  2. MICHIGAN STATE14 114 290 .393
  3. MICHIGAN 14 122 317 .385
  4. IOWA 15 88 237 .371
Iowa is in desperate need of a PG and better outside shooting. Their front court and wings are as deep and talented as any team in the conference.
Posted this on Twitter last night but Iowa has a ton of depth and talent but they also don't have anyone that's played for a winner before. A majority of those guys have been around but they've never done better than .500 in the Big Ten or made the NCAA tournament.

I really think they need a big win to kind of propel them to contender status because MSU, OSU, Wisconsin, even Michigan have guys that have played in and won big games in this league.

Losing a close game at Wiscy is not an indication of any particular shortcoming. Iowa looked really good, and Brust saved Wiscy’s bacon in the second half. I still like Iowa. There biggest problem is schedule. They didn’t get any breaks. Wiscy, OTOH, has probably the easiest conf schedule of any of the contenders. I do think that Wiscy looked somewhat vulnerable last night. They are not a dominant team. We started 16-0 last season and then hit the road in the B1G. Things can change in a hurry.

@sane1 I agree that Iowa looked good. They aren’t the first team to control a game at the Kohl Center and then fall apart late. But they do need that big win to break through. They’ll probably be 3-2 when they come to Ann Arbor and really looking to steal one at Crisler.

I’ve only seen one complete game, so take it with a grain of salt - Wisconsin in a nuthshell - gosh to do they shoot the ball well and spread the floor, probaly better than Michigan to be honest. Jackson has improved at the PG spot and has a niche for hitting shots when they matter.

That being said, Wisconsin seems to have taken a step back in the defense and rebounding department, and has become more of a finesse team. Don’t have the stats, perhaps Dylan can provide

Kaminsky (hopefully I spelled correctly) - basically Leur with more range, less post ability
Brust - outside shooter
Gasser (again spelling) - outside shooter
Hayes - Ryan Evans replacement/tough guy down low
Jackson - improved and hits big shots
Dekker - best all around athlete and player, good combo forward, jack of all trades

Can’t really speak to the rest of their roster, as I’ve only seen 1 complete game.

3-POINT FG PCT G 3FGM 3FGA Pct 1. WISCONSIN 15 126 318 .396 2. MICHIGAN STATE14 114 290 .393 3. MICHIGAN 14 122 317 .385 4. IOWA 15 88 237 .371

Wow, thanks for that info. Actually schocked that Iowa shoots the ball that well from 3. The 3-4 games I’ve seen them against legit comp they’ve been a pretty bad outside shooting team. I know this, they desperately need to improve the PG play.

Really difficult to beat MSU at Breslin. I’ll take them against OSU. Sparty’s already have two road wins, and a real chance to start 8-0 in conference. If Harris stays healthy, they are definitely the team to beat even with Wiskys break in the scheduling.

3-POINT FG PCT G 3FGM 3FGA Pct 1. WISCONSIN 15 126 318 .396 2. MICHIGAN STATE14 114 290 .393 3. MICHIGAN 14 122 317 .385 4. IOWA 15 88 237 .371

Wow, thanks for that info. Actually schocked that Iowa shoots the ball that well from 3. The 3-4 games I’ve seen them against legit comp they’ve been a pretty bad outside shooting team. I know this, they desperately need to improve the PG play.

Against Xavier 6 - 23

Against Villanova 11 - 24

Against ND 7 - 13

Against Iowa State 4 - 17

Against Wisconsin 4 - 10

I’ve seen Iowa vs X, ISU, and Wisconsin, hence my thought that they are a poor shooting outside team. Overall though, seem like a decent shooting team even against legit comp.

Really difficult to beat MSU at Breslin. I'll take them against OSU. Sparty's already have two road wins, and a real chance to start 8-0 in conference. If Harris stays healthy, they are definitely the team to beat even with Wiskys break in the scheduling.
Something not quite right with Harris, seems content to be a spot up shooter this year. Has much more talent relative to what he's displayed this year. Even though he had a big game vs IU in terms of points, I wasn't all that impressed because he got a good portion of those shots on catch and shoot opportunities created by Payne. He has struggled this year in my opinion.

Fran McCaffery suspended one game and earns a public reprimand for his outburst at Wisconsin.

I don’t know where to post this but I don’t think there is a team in America that matches up well with Iowa St.

Travis Trice out tonight with illness. Adreian Payne injured in warmups?


OSU VS MSU really tight game…surprised how many threes MSU has taken. Looking forward to seeing how we match the defensive intensity of these two teams. We certainly can match either’s 3 point shooting based on tonights play…go blue!

Michigan State and Ohio State played a 28-21 half and neither team ended up in the bonus. New rules?

MSU shoots a lot of threes this year (especially compared to previous years)… but man blow the whistles… This is just ugly offense.